With just two months remaining in the current fiscal year, the government is falling short in both revenue collection and effective budget spending, signaling weak fiscal performance.
According to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), only 64.03 percent of the annual revenue target has been achieved. As of Thursday, the government had collected Rs 908.84 billion in revenue. To meet its fiscal target of Rs 1.419 trillion for FY 2024/25, it now needs to collect an additional Rs 510.46 billion in the remaining eight weeks—a highly unlikely outcome given current trends.
Similarly, government spending remains sluggish. Of the total budget allocation of Rs 1.86 trillion, only Rs 1.13 trillion—less than 61 percent—has been spent so far. Development expenditure is particularly low, with just Rs 116.53 billion utilized out of the Rs 352.35 billion allocated, representing a mere 33.07 percent. This leaves Rs 235.82 billion to be spent on capital projects in the next two months.
Even after the government revised the budget through its mid-term review—lowering the total budget to Rs 1.692 trillion and the capital expenditure to Rs 299.50 billion—achieving these targets still appears unlikely.
Adding to the financial strain is Nepal’s growing public debt, which has now exceeded Rs 2.611 trillion. The government has already spent Rs 264.28 billion on debt servicing—more than double the capital expenditure so far—raising concerns about the sustainability of public finances.
Economist Keshab Acharya stressed the need for a more realistic and focused fiscal policy. He urged the government to prioritize funding for key national pride projects to ensure their timely completion and improve overall budgetary discipline.
